Wake Forest’s Greg Dortch sure can fill up a stat sheet.
Dortch ranks first in the nation in all-purpose yards after one of the great individual performances in Atlantic Coast Conference history. The sophomore became the first Wake Forest player since 1927 to return two punts for touchdowns, and he finished with 310 all-purpose yards and three TDs on just 13 touches in the Demon Deacons’ 51-20 win over Towson on Saturday.
Dortch showed signs of his all-purpose prowess last year when he piled up 258 yards against Georgia Tech and 216 against Louisville in consecutive games. He set a school record with four touchdown catches against Louisville, but he sustained a season-ending abdominal injury in the game and missed the final five games of the season.
He amassed 200 yards against Tulane in the opener before his career-best performance against Towson. He caught a 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and he ran back punts 70 and 60 yards for TDs in the second.
He finished with seven catches for 94 yards and ran back three kicks for 85 yards and three punts for 131. His punt-return average of 44 yards (minimum three attempts) set the ACC record, and he was the fourth player in conference history with two punt returns for touchdowns.
He also became the sixth Football Bowl Subdivision player since 2000 with 70 yards each in pass receiving, punt return yards and kickoff return yards in a game.
200-YARD CLUB
Five players had 200-yard games, with Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor going for a career-high 253 yards on 33 carries against New Mexico in the nation’s top performance of the season. Taylor averages a Bowl Subdivision-best 199 yards per game.
Oregon State’s Jermar Jefferson ran for 238 yards against Southern Utah; Memphis’ Darrell Henderson went for 212 against Navy; Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill had 211 against Kansas State; and Indiana’s Stevie Scott ran for 204 against Virginia.
GETTING HIS KICKS
Utah State’s Dominik Eberle tied an NCAA record for points by a kicker when he totaled 24 against New Mexico State on six field goals and six point-after kicks.
The German-born junior who went to high school in Redondo Beach, California, became the sixth kicker in NCAA history to make three field goals of 50 yards or longer and the first to do it since 2006. The 2017 Lou Groza Award finalist kicked field goals of 44, 32, 51, 21, 51 and 51 yards — tied for third-most in an NCAA game.
BUCKEYES ON THE MONEY
Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins and Tate Martell combined to complete 30 of 33 passes against Rutgers , a .909 completion percentage that ties for second-best in program history (minimum of eight attempts). The Buckeyes were 10 for 11 against UCLA in 1961 and hit on all eight of their passes against Iowa in 1975.
Haskins was 20 of 23 for 233 yards and four TDs and Martell was 10 for 10 for 121 yards and one TD.
DEVIL OF A TIME RUNNING
Arizona State, with seven new starters on defense, has allowed a nation-low average of 32.5 rushing yards through two games. The Sun Devils were 78th in rushing defense last year, allowing 174.8 per game.
ASU held Michigan State runners to 63 yards in a 16-13 win, just 19 after the first quarter. It was the Spartans’ lowest output on the ground since going for 51 against Northwestern in 2016.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Miami’s 77-0 win over Savannah State set a program record for margin of victory and tied the record for most points in a game.
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